*I was thinking about vlogging about this because it is mainly on the changes YouTube has been undergoing lately, but I’m still in exams and blogging about it is much easier and less time consuming. With that said…*
When I first integrated myself in the YouTube community it was for the sole purpose of watching piano tutorials and covers of my favourite songs because at that time I was self-teaching myself how to play the piano. It was in 2009. I was only 13-14 years old then. Afterwards, after one year, I started making video montages with my favourite TV series at that time: Merlin, and as most of you know my vidding channel was born.
I remember how at that time my YouTube channel was so customizable with the transparency option especially, with which I could thankfully put up a favourite wallpaper of mine to serve as my channel’s background image. I remember how a YouTube channel back then was like a… profile page, with friends as well as subscribers and channel groups and more.
But YouTube’s format gradually changed as the years passed… until we came to the current channel format: less customizable, more professional, which led to a kind of a division between the content creators and the viewers… when in truth we are all equal, and creators are viewers as well as vice versa.
However I quickly got used to that new format. It wasn’t that bad after all. I could still play with my channel art and I managed to build internet friendships as well as I started a new channel, the one I’m currently using, which you all know as being my vlogging/art channel, DaphYinArt.
But then things got complicated.
Google+ was starting an invasion… a monopolization of the place. Almost every time I would log in to YouTube a window would pop up, telling me to switch my YT username to my full name from my Google+ profile and thus merge my G+ with my YT.
Here’s basically why I didn’t want that to happen:
(i) I didn’t carefully choose a username, DaphYinArt, perfectly describing what I’m going to do in my channel, only to replace it a few days later with my full name, which does not explain my channel.
(ii) You see, the fact that I have two YT channels mean that I had to create 2 G-mail addresses. The one I used for my first channel has become the one I use all the time, including for this blog, most of my other social media sites and my Google+ profile. As I created my second G-mail address for my second channel, I automatically created a new Google+ profile of mine… which is annoying because… I already have one, come on! So I merged the two G+ profiles… yet my second profile still exists… like as a separate profile which you can add in your circles without necessarily adding yourself to my main profile. Anyway I just decided to ignore that second G+ profile and keep up with the former one which I like a lot. But if I have to merge my YT with G+, it would have merged my second inactive neglected G+ profile with YT instead of the former loved one… and that… sucks!!! (sorry for the lack of a better word)
So I dismissed the popped-up window every single time.
Until the inevitable happened.
One day a YouTuber commented on my channel and like I always do, I went over to her channel to reply. But when I clicked in the comment section… that G+ to YT window popped up. After a few attempts, I realised I would not be able to comment unless I have my G+ merged with my YT. I went over to other channels and saw that some of time did not require that though… so I figured out that I won’t be able to comment on the channels in which the YouTuber merged G+ with their YouTube.
Disastrous. I love interacting with YouTubers!!!
So when the window popped up again, I clicked on ‘I don’t want to use my full name.’ and then I had a choice I didn’t realise earlier. I could create a G+ page for my channel using either my YT username or a name of my choice.
You know, every time that window pops up, the way G+ phrases it, it seems that, as a user, you have freedom of choice. But the truth is… they compel you to use G+. When I clicked ‘I don’t want to use my full name.’ I expected to see an option telling me that it’s ok, you don’t want to merge G+ with YT so we’ll leave you alone. No. It’s G+ or nothing.
Well, this annoyed me personally because I already have 2 G+ profiles, one I’m neglecting of course, and with all the other social media sites I used, I didn’t want to add another internet page to manage and promote. And I have a life. Real life. To manage and promote.
Nevertheless, I finally gave in to G+, telling myself that it wouldn’t be that bad. As long as I can keep YouTube. And my YouTube interactions.
Thus, yesterday the G+ DaphYinArt page was born. Care to have a look? It’s just basically everything I do on YouTube… posted publicly on G+.
Or was it the day before yesterday? I can’t remember, but what I know is that yesterday, coincidentally after I gave in to G+ entirely, the comments section and the whole of YT, basically, was invaded by Google+!!!!
Everyone is from now on compelled to have either their Google+ profile merged with their YouTube or a Google+ page to use for YouTube.
In addition, the comments section has changed drastically… Every comment becomes G+’d and… well in the first few hours of this change, I panicked because I couldn’t reply to my video’s comments, and later I learnt that old comments can’t be replied to… or is it that people who didn’t undergo the G+ conversion cannot be replied to? In any case, we can reply to comments now. Ouf!
Anyway, so yeah I panicked and started dreading that new format of everything… as if YouTube was dying and Google+ was taking over… as if YouTube was losing its very own identity… the originality I discovered in 2009…
But then, I calmed down. Especially after I watched this:
I agree to everthing he says!!!
Like any changes, we will soon adapt to it. Like any changes, it will have its flaws and benefits. We’ll just have to learn how to adapt and use it to our own advantage, to make YouTube an even better place, instead of reflecting on the bad sides of it.
To end this long blog post (sorry for that xP) here’s my latest video:
And to make things clear, here are my G+/YouTube active links:
YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/DaphYinArt?feature=watch
Google+ profile: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+Daphn%C3%A9eKwongWaye/posts
Google+ page for my YT channel: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/100000830309706600572/100000830309706600572/posts
Have a nice day and weekend!
An Evil Nymph.
An Evil Nymph's Blog 
Are you familiar w/ Jim Gramze, i.e. :
No Stolen Cat Pictures?
He is a piano teacher here. His gravatar is on my last post where he last commented. Just thought you’d find it interesting♡
Great post!
I agree, sometimes youtube does some really stupid stuff. I hate the way they tricked me into a google thing, i can’t remember my user name or password, so it is frozen there and i can’t change it. That makes me SOOOOO mad!!!!!! Sometimes youtube sucks.
let’s find out where Google headquarters is and have a massive gathering of disgruntled homosapiens who want them to do a better job. Oh well, maybe your attitude is better. It would cost a lot of money to go there and do that.